Artis presented Play it Yourself (P.I.Y.): The Score, a participatory sound workshop and talk with artist, composer and performer Maya Dunietz in conversation with Rachel Adams, Chief Curator and Director of Programs at Bemis Center and Artis Curatorial Seminar alum. Through discussion and performance, Maya Dunietz shared her creative influences and how they manifest in her varied practice that spans music, visual arts, performance, technological research, philosophy, and sound. Rachel Adams, curator of the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in the U.S., slated to open in May 2022 at the Bemis Center and supported by an Artis Exhibition Grant, moderated the conversation. A playful and interactive workshop followed, where Maya guided participants in an experimental sound exercise using everyday household objects as instruments.

In 1965, composer Jani Christou , and one of Maya’s artistic influences, coined the term metapraxis as a framework for music making: “metapraxis is concerned with breaking through the barrier of meaning of a single medium, whatever that medium may be. Whenever that happens, that is music. That can be in any medium, providing metapraxis can occur. Music can be silent.” (Jani Christou, Thoughts , December 13, 1969) Inspired by Christou’s notion of metapraxis, Maya’s workshop invited participants to reassess the use, function, and meaning of objects as instruments for exploratory sound. Participants received a creative prompt to play a musical score, and performed their compositions during the workshop. The score (pictured above), annotated with symbols that are accessible and open to interpretation, is a framework for intuitive music making, and a way to experience new sonic possibilities and perspectives.